A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : TURN-OFFS : This One Can’t Miss: A Dead Teamster Evangelist Turns Into a Toy Tycoon

Each boasted big stars, respected directors and huge marketing campaigns. Yet, in the case of “Toys,” “Hoffa” and “Leap of Faith,” something clearly went wrong on the way to the multiplex.

The big disappointments of this Christmas season, the three films lost their studios millions of dollars and left a smattering of egg on the faces of all those involved. Studio executives and producers involved in the films have been sifting through the rubble, trying to figure out what when awry on projects that once seemed like sure things.

The biggest disappointment of the three is clearly “Toys,” Barry Levinson’s ode to innocence set in a Dada-esque toy factory where Robin Williams ran amok in Technicolor garb. Shot at an estimated cost of between $42-$47 million, the film just recently ground past the $20 million mark at the box office and is expected to take in only $5 million more. At one time, expectations were that the film would take in at least $50 million.

But those involved in the movie had an early inkling of what would happen: Advance word of mouth on the film was poisonous, a fact that left star Williams up in arms. Williams points to the early December appearance on the “Today” show of Entertainment Weekly film editor Jim Meigs. Asked to pick the season’s big bomb, Meigs answered “Toys.”

According to Williams, Meigs had not even seen the film at the time. “That’s what I don’t think is fair,” Williams says. According to Meigs, his comment was based on word of mouth his staff was hearing, by the studio’s refusal to screen the movie in advance for magazine deadlines and by the film’s trailer, where Williams shot off stream-of-consciousness jokes while standing in a wheat field. “Here you had a trailer that didn’t show one piece of footage from the movie,” Meigs says. “I think that made everybody a bit suspicious.”

One source says the film’s box-office future was clear after a couple of preview screenings. “It was a well-made movie, but people just didn’t like or buy the premise. It was too far out for people. We knew they’d either love it or hate it, but there was no indication that it would be so universally disliked. It had very bad word of mouth and that’s what did it in.”

To say that the film had bad word of mouth is an understatement. On the Prodigy computer network, which has more than 1.7 million subscribers, a file called “Movies” contained laymen criticism more scathing than some of the reviews the film received: “The worst thing I have ever seen” and “Even the usher at the theater told me not to see it.”

In the case of “Hoffa,” another Fox film, all involved expected it to be a blockbuster. For the film’s opening weekend, box-office figures were expected to hover around the $9-million mark. But the film about Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa (played by Jack Nicholson) only managed $6.4 million in its first three days, surprising in light of Nicholson’s ballyhooed performance and Danny DeVito’s direction--his “Throw Momma From the Train” and “War of the Roses” were huge hits.

“Hoffa,” which cost in the neighborhood of $40 million, has a projected final gross of $30 million, around $40 million short of its box-office goal.

According to an industry marketing source, “Hoffa” is only attracting one audience: Older white males. “And even they are not enjoying the picture as much as everybody thought they would. The main problem here is that it is almost impossible to bring women into this picture.”

Executives at 20th Century Fox aren’t giving up, however. They believe “Hoffa” will nab a few Oscar nominations, especially for Nicholson, and are changing their advertising approach. “They’re gonna start focusing on Jack more in the ads, that his is a classic performance,” says one source.

Some say the disappointing box-office figures of “Hoffa” and “Toys” are the result of their directors’ heavy hands. “The director’s clout getting these movies made without giving them the revisions they so clearly needed is the issue here,” says one studio executive.

Another studio executive rebutted that theory: “I think that’s the comment of someone who wants to make his own movie. I think some people are thrilled that Barry and Danny failed. But that’s part of the business. There are hits and misses. Nobody goes out of their way to make disappointments.”

The failure of “Leap of Faith” to attract a large audience can be partially blamed on its release date. Overwhelmed by such films as “Forever Young” and “The Bodyguard” that stole its target audience, “Leap of Faith,” say some, should have been held until this month or February.

Early screenings of the Steve Martin film about a huckster evangelist had some at Paramount buoyant. One high-ranking Paramount executive was overheard telling colleagues that it was going to be “a $100-million film.”

Other factors: The studio’s marketing approach to the film and the fact that audiences clearly prefer their Steve Martin vehicles fun and hip without dark edges. “Leap of Faith,” which was brought in for less than $20 million, is expected to gross just under that amount.

One industry marketing source says he is surprised that a major studio would bankroll the movie. “The middle part of the country will not go to a movie that mocks God and religion, and people on the coasts don’t want to see something cynical that suddenly turns sentimental. When you’ve got a movie that turns off both segments, this is what happens. Congrats--you’ve got no one.”